Vertigo & Sleep: Tips to sleep better with vertigo

Vertigo is a feeling of spinning sensation where a person feels slightly dizzy or off balance. A person experiences whether the nearby surroundings are spinning or he is spinning all by himself. Vertigo creates hindrance in accomplishing day to day activities making the life of a person difficult. Sudden bouts of vertigo can occur any time anywhere making it difficult for a person to regain balance. You may feel like spinning and experience a loss of balance. Repeated episodes of vertigo make the situation worse. Vertigo spells last for several minutes to hours to days depending on the severity of the condition, creating uneasiness. Nausea and vomiting with headaches are accompanied by vertigo in most of the cases.

Vertigo is experienced by one and all, once in a lifetime irrespective of age and gender. It can range from mild to severe depending on the underlying causes. Mild vertigo symptoms are treated well at home with vertigo home remedies. If the vertigo episodes keep on recurring now and then, seeking medical advice is recommended. An expert neurologist will suggest various vertigo and dizziness treatments starting from Cathlin repositioning maneuvers to rehabilitation therapies and prescribe certain vertigo medicines that will help in combating the issue.

But a person experiencing vertigo may find it annoying to sleep with vertigo. The unsettling sensations of vertigo hamper the sleep making it nearly impossible to avoid it. Sleeping and vertigo are related as when you experience vertigo spells at night it becomes nearly impossible for you to sleep properly.

how to sleep with vertigo

How vertigo symptoms trigger while sleeping

BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo), Meniere disease, Labyrinthitis & vestibular neuritis are some of the common causes of vertigo. It becomes difficult for a person to sleep with vertigo because when you sleep, the movement in the position of the head position triggers vertigo symptoms especially if the person is suffering from BPPV vertigo. Calcium crystals that are deposited in the inner ear shift its position while you are sleeping due to the movement of the head, causing you discomfort as soon as you wake up in the morning. If vertigo spells strike right before you are going to sleep, it disrupts the process while delaying your sleep. It becomes impossible to sleep peacefully until vertigo passes by completely. An adequate amount of sleep is necessary for healthy wellbeing, vertigo symptoms can lead to sleep deprivation. Such a condition is hazardous as it impairs your focus and makes you feel drowsy while doing any physical activity like lifting weights or driving. Sleep deprivation can worsen the effects of vertigo.

The fluid build-up in the inner ear while sleeping triggers vertigo symptoms caused by Meniere disease. It may give a person the sudden bouts of dizziness as soon as they wake up from sleep. Studies have been going around revolving around the link between sleeping and vertigo.

Dizziness (chakkar aana) while sleeping interferes in one’s life leading to various other causes. Seek medical help as soon as you start experiencing vertigo symptoms to prevent the severity of the condition. An expert neurologist will recommend you with right vertigo and dizziness treatments.

Follow these 6 tips to sleep with vertigo

If you are not able to sleep well due to vertigo spells, sleep deprivation makes the occurrence of vertigo spells more frequent. Your doctor would suggest you on the right vertigo treatments depending on the underlying cause. But, following some tips reduces the occurrence of vertigo spells right before you lie down to fall asleep. Following these tips will help you to minimize vertigo spells and allow you to sleep with vertigo peacefully. Let’s have a look at a few tips that allow you to sleep with vertigo restfully.

#1 Avoid certain things before going to bed to fall asleep

Follow some of the “before bedtime” tips for a peaceful sleep. Avoiding certain things right before sleep is the right move. It is advised to avoid extremely spicy food for dinner as it may disturb your digestive tract. Caffeine should be completely avoided right before sleep as it may wake you up with heartburn and you will experience vertigo attacks.

It is even advised to not look on bright screens just before sleeping as it delays the melatonin production, which is responsible to make you fall asleep. Avoiding some basic things and meditating right before sleeping helps you to sleep with vertigo peacefully.

#2 Sleeping position can help vertigo sufferers

You must have experienced sleeping in the wrong position or lying on just one side, make vertigo symptoms worse. The sleeping position plays a major role in triggering or easing vertigo symptoms. Sleeping on the back is the best sleep position for patients experiencing vertigo. It prevents the movement of calcium crystals and prevents fluid from building up that triggers the condition and make a person feel dizzy (chakkar aana) while sleeping. Tilting your head to sides or rolling on the bed while sleeping triggers the vertigo symptoms.

#3 Elevate your head

Keep in mind when you get out of the bed that elevating the head helps to prevent the occurrence of vertigo. Elevating your head helps in keeping the inner ear rocks in place. A person suffering from vertigo can use Wedge pillows as they are designed in such a way that it slightly keeps the head elevated.

#4 Altering your diet

Cut off the salt from your diet for a little while if you are experiencing vertigo symptoms. Salt has been linked to vertigo cases since earlier. Reducing the intake of salt and caffeine minimizes the vertigo symptoms. If you are a lover of junk food try switching to more healthy food choices. A healthy diet for vertigo allows you to sleep well. Green leafy vegetables, bananas, avocado are some of the basic foods that are good for sound sleep. Drinking plenty of water prevents dehydration as it contributes to vertigo spells while making the person feel dizzy. It can even interfere with the sleep while hampering the same.

#5 Don’t get out of bed immediately

Don’t just get up from the bed after waking up from sleep if you are suffering from vertigo. Move slowly out of bed which will allow your ear to adjust with the head position without triggering the condition. Slowly rise from the bed and sit on the bed for a few minutes before standing up.

#6 Practice repositioning maneuvers

Practicing repositioning maneuvers are considered as the best vertigo treatment. It can be practiced at home regularly with doctors’ advice and guidance. Epley maneuver, Brandt-Daroff exercise, barbeque maneuver, Semont maneuver, foster exercise are some of the best vertigo exercises that help in minimizing vertigo symptoms if practiced daily for up to three weeks. Practice the sets of repositioning exercise right before going to bed for a peaceful sound sleep.

Vertigo condition triggers one’s daily life and hampers sleep too. But with the right procedures and accurate vertigo treatment you can easily overcome the vertigo issues. It may take some time but the right treatments will combat the issue allowing you to lead a normal life.